Rockford [Digipak] by Cheap Trick (CD, Jun-2006, 2 Discs, Big3 Records)

Cheap Trick has reached a new plateau in the world of Power Pop Rock. Rockford, their latest album, is a great listen from start to finish. Not one clinker in the crowd. If you listen all the way through each song, you’ll hear the full range of Robin Zander’s vocals, Rick Nielsen with his understated, but more varied than ever guitar, powerful drumming by Bun E. Carlos and substantial bass from Tom Peterson.
The overall sound of Rockford is in the minor key, with a certain longing feeling to almost every song. There is a touching melancholy to this music without as much outrageous foolishness of some of Cheap Trick’s earlier music or sappy radio-friendly music of their 90s output. This is a band that knows its status in the music world, longs for the glories of the past, but forges on, with a wonderful sound for today, while looking forward to the future with no regrets.
Rockford reminds me of the Beatles Revolver, with song after memorable song that still stands up years after it was made. On this album, the vocals are up front, with Nielsen’s excellent falsetto backing up, responding to, and in harmony with Zander’s voice, which goes from a whisper, to a scream and all points in between. The rhythm section plays a big part, while the guitar experiments with single riffs, kazoo sounds, startling swings, and psychedelic noise at the end.
Robin’s real voice is used throughout - no electronic trickery. Cheap Trick produced Rockford themselves, and it shows their true unaltered greatness. What you hear is what they played and sang in the studio. No gimmicks that rely on computers to duplicate. The lyrics on many of the songs are filled with witty wordplay and references to their own previous songs, other songs on the album, and the songs of other people. All the words are well-chosen , and for the most part, show where Cheap Trick is now in it’s career, it’s relationship with the overall music business, and it’s faithful fans.
For a complete review, visit my blog at http://omaharocks.spaces.live.com
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